The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to submit a disposal plan for the raw material used to manufacture endosulfan, Hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCP), an organochlorine compound. It is used in several pesticides.

The endosulfan hearing on November 14, saw the pesticides manufacturers pleading with the court to allow them to export raw endosulfan. The Supreme Court, on September 30 had allowed the export of endosulfan formulations to countries from which they had received export orders prior to the ban.

Friday the 13th wasn't bad after all. The Supreme Court on May 13, passed an ad-interim order to ban with immediate effect the manufacture, sale and use of endosulfan throughout the country, citing its harmful health effects. The court also directed the statutory authorities to seize the permits given to endosulfan manufacturers till further orders.

It was a shocker. Out of the 21 states that attended a meeting at the agriculture commissioner's office, 20 opposed the ban on endosulfan and this included Karnataka, that has already banned endosulfan in the state and Madhya Pradesh, whose agriculture minister had sent a letter to the centre supporting Kerala's ex chief minister VS Achuthanandan's call for a nationwide ban on endosulfan.

HIL's (Hindustan Insecticide Limited) licence to produce endosulfan was cancelled by the Kerala government on May 27. The Gujarat agriculture department too has seized the permit of nearly 80 endosulfan manufacturing and formulating units in the state.

Its been a week since the Supreme Court issued the order for the interim ban on endosulfan. There is no official confirmation on the joint committee yet, when they have to present the interim report within 8 weeks, from May 13, to the Supreme Court. It is after the interim report is submitted will the apex court take a final call on whether the pesticide should be allowed or banned.

The Supreme Court, on May 13, passed an ad-interim order to ban the manufacture, sale and use of Endosulfan with immediate effect across the country. It also issued an order for a joint committee of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Agriculture Commissioner for a study on the health impacts of endosulfan within 8 weeks.

Ordinary people of the remote Padre village of Kasaragod district in Kerala along with NGOs have been at the forefront of a battle to ban the use of endosulfan, a toxic pesticide that has been used for decades in India. While the struggle to have this toxic substance banned continues nearly ten years after evidence first emerged from Kerala about its health impact, the government and the powerful pesticide lobby continue to be in denial about it.